I had booked a land vacation about 8 months ago for myself and my two sisters in
Cancun Mexico. But then the hurricanes came and dashed our dreams of beach
filled bliss. After recouping what was left of our budget less the “vacation
insurance” refund I began to search the internet for a similar vacation with out
spending more money. I then found a stellar deal, on orbits of all places, for
an 8 night pacific Mexican Riviera cruise on carnival spirit. I was a first time
cruiser and felt the need to read any and all info I could find. Web sites like
this one really helped. Thanks. Our sailing date was 1/3/06, departing from San
Diego. We live in the so cal area so we didn’t have to worry about booking a
flight etc. We instead were able to just park our cars in long-term parking
across the street from the pier. For an 8 day cruise it’s 108 bucks but that’s a
lot cheaper than a plane ticket and a lot less hassle.

Firstly, embarkation was a breeze, we didn’t get down to the pier until 1:30 so
I guess we missed the crowds every one is always talking about. The staff was
totally friendly and the process took us 15 minutes. No kidding.

We booked a category 9A “extended balcony”. It was worth every penny. The room
was more than ample for the three of us and even accommodated three chronic over
packing women with too many clothes, shoes, and bath supplies. The bed linens
were the nicest I have seen in a while, with a duvet cover and fitted sheets on
the bed. I haven’t seen fitted sheets on a “hotel” bed since I paid well over
what some people make in a week for one nights stay. Great touch carnival. There
were two (small) twin beds and a couch. There was also a bed in the ceiling but
we decided against using it, since the couch was made up by our amazing
stewardess every night so it wasn’t an issue at all. The balcony was great for
sunning in the afternoon, or sitting with coffee on those slow to start mornings
that somehow stretched to noon. The room is larger than most standard balcony’s
I believe due to the location. There are only 4 rooms of this type on each floor
located behind the aft elevators. We never heard any noise at all. If it’s
available and your looking for a little more room but not wanting to pay as much
as a “suite” would cost I suggest looking into it. Our stewardess only came by
one morning to ask when we would be gone and after that learned that we weren’t
exactly the types to completely clear the room by 10am. She was a very tall
Russian woman and we tipped her extra at the end of the cruise for her stellar
service. I also left her a bottle of wine in hopes that she might find time to
put her feet up and relax.

We did get seasick the first night. I am prone to motion sickness but I was
assured both by reviews and others who have cruised that it wouldn’t be a
problem. We encountered what they call long swells formed from the storms that
had just come thru our area the days prior our departure. I finally made it down
to the shop on board to buy those bands the next morning and they totally
worked, even though they look rather goofy. Next time I’m getting the patch from
my doctor.

After 2 days at sea we stopped first in Acapulco. It was 100 degrees in January
and muggy We caught a cab for 5 dollars to the Flea market and encountered the
pushiest vendors ever. They were physically pulling us into their markets and
tried to gouge us at every turn. I bought two pieces of silver jewelry that were
originally quoted to be 150 dollars, I walked away for both for 60 bucks. Humph.
The best part was the last store we wandered into where they served us free
margaritas. They were so strong we had to have a couple a piece and one for the
road. The walk back to the ship was short and enjoyable with our newly acquired
buzz. That night we booked a trip to the supper club and I must say it was the
best meal I have had in a long time. Maybe ever. The service was impeccable and
the dinning well worth the extra fee of $30 pp. You must, I repeat must, work
this into your trip. It was truly a highlight.

The next day was ixtapa. I read about Las Gatas beach being a great time so we
opted to wing it rather than book a shore excursion, a gamble that totally paid
off. Las Gatas is on the other side of the bay where the ship is tendered. When
you land at the pier don’t pay attention to the guys barking about 10 dollars a
person on a special boat to las gatas. Go instead to the little ticket booths
and pay 3 bucks a person round trip (30 pesos). The little boats they take you
on are kind of hard to jump down into but very sturdy and totally fun. The beach
was full of families since it was a Saturday. The first restaurants you come to
on that strip of beach were full of pushy restaurant owners but the father you
walked down the more relaxed it got. The very last stop on the beach was the
perfect spot. We parked it under a palapa and our waiter David spoke wonderful
English and service was fantastic. Word of warning if you want to actually swim
in the ocean here, bring some water shoes cause it’s really rocky and I kind of
ate it and sliced up my toe a bit. We sat out in the sun/shade for 4 hours that
afternoon. I tried the spicy octopus (yum city ) and drank my share of coronas.
My sister got her hair braided by one of the women who was walking the beach and
we also got some really great coconut oil for something like 2 dollars a bottle.
I am still using it. All in all it was my favorite part of our trip. Truly
paradise. When we had to leave to make it back to the boat on time our tab was
46 bucks for 7 coronas, 2 other cocktails, 3 full plates of food, and a
ridiculous pine colada that was served in a whole carved out pineapple. They
even used the fruit that they carved out to make a face. Cheesy but fun. I wish
we could have stayed longer.

Manzinillo was the last stop. When we were getting lunch that day we ran into
some of our dinner mates who had already come back from town and informed us
that we wouldn’t be missing much if we didn’t get off the boat. We decided that
we would rather sun by the pool and make that our spa day. The spa was wonderful
if not overpriced. Massages and facials have their way of making your forget how
much money your spending.

I found the crew to be very friendly overall. A couple of the bartenders were
kind of grumpy but that didn’t ruffle me much. We went dancing the second night
at “the dancing club”. LAME LAME LAME. It’s a great set up, two stories, light
up dance floor with floor to ceiling monitors. But the DJ totally killed it. He
spent so much time TALKING that no one was able to dance. We even thought, maybe
he was just trying to get the dance floor full, but it never stopped. No more
than 16 bars of music would go by then he was chatting it up again. Saying
nothing very interesting. I wanted to clock him. Seriously. I work in the
entertainment industry and this guy would be fired hands down. All of us that
were traveling are in our mid to late 20's and dancing all night was something
we were really looking forward to. We never went back. It was that bad.

The food was also not so hot. The room service menu is a joke. It consisted of
sandwiches, fruit and some cookies. Also, it bummed me out that the “buffet” was
really only from noon to 2:30. After that you could only get sandwiches, pizza,
and maybe a hot dog (I loved those hot dogs by the way). Definitely not the food
fiesta I was looking for. They didn’t even keep the salad bar open. Must we live
on carbs and protein alone? I need some veggies! Please! The food at the empire
dinning room was hit and miss. One night it would be pretty good and the next
night we would be thinking “ I wonder if I can stomach another night of pizza?”.
Our dinner mates even complained about the selections. We sat with a couple who
vacations quite a bit on carnival and said it was some of the worst food they
had ever had. Even desert was kina lame. Basil ice cream that tasted like soap
and pudding that always ended up looking like muffin. There were some great
dishes, I had prim rib that was delicious and there was lobster. That might have
been it though. Breakfast was great once we convinced ourselves to wake up to
make it to the dinning room. Nothing like having someone pour you orange juice
in a wine glass at 9:30am. Ya know?

We didn’t participate in any of the planned activities other than one afternoon
of bingo. Which I won! yeah! Promptly gave it back to the casino though. Oh
well. I am a theatrical technician by trade so I just couldn’t see subjecting
myself to bad singing and dancing while I was on vacation since it’s what I must
endure every other day of the year. I did notice that the towel folding class
was packed. I happened to peek in while I was walking by, and man those people
were so serious about towel folding. Who knew?? Our captain would make the most
ridiculously obvious announcements. my favorite being (insert cheesy Italian
accent here): "hello this is captain Palo scalo. You are on boat. It is noon. It
is beautiful day at sea. I have cold but don’t worry it only affects my voice".
What???

The live music they had through out the ship was really fantastic. I am a big
jazz buff and thier trio was superb. It was funny how the same group of us would
show up in the lounge every night to hear them. Good company though.

Our table mates were really a motley crew. Picture this: 3 sisters, 23,23,( yes
they’re twins) and 27, three priests from Boston,( yeah I know PRIESTS!!
drinking gambling, sunbathing priests) and a gay couple from Wisconsin. It was
our favorite thing going to dinner. Talk about meeting new and different people!
We have a great table picture with all those boys whom we lovingly referred to
as : our full house, three kings and two queens. Hooray! Hi you guys!

Overall we are really happy with our experience onboard the spirit. We relaxed
and laughed and had a great time with each other. They really do let you have
the kind of vacation you want on carnival and we will probably book with them in
the future.

PS- to Mr. Wayne Lunderburg. You made me want to go cruising with your review.
Every time I flushed my toilette I thought of your witty observation of where
does all the excrement go? I couldn’t help but mull over the propulsion systems
and stabilizers that were constantly running on that ship. Your candor stayed
with my my whole trip. I wish that I could have taken you with me.